It’s bad enough that the definition of “news” has come to mean stories about bad jokes from shock jocks and paternity tests. That stories which were once the purview of tabloids are now routinely given as much, if not more, play on major news outlets as stories that actually have some worth.
So what’s the latest “news” off the AOL feed?
Kirsten Dunst says she likes to smoke pot.
Aside from the minor name irony of Mary Jane liking Mary Jane, an LA actress says she likes to smoke pot? My God, how is this REMOTELY news? Tell me a staunch anti-drug advocate is found stoned, and that’s a story, but an LA actress? You’re kidding, right? What next? Jerry Seinfeld announces he likes jokes? Or, as another poster commented on the Imus thread, this just in: Water is wet.
PAD
• 
Television news hasn’t been “news” since the days of Walter Cronkite.
News appears to be more of a “news commentary” where putting the reporter’s personal spin on a story rather than the objective view. My local newspaper, Newsday, has been accused of this in the past.
Granted, there are some stories that it is difficult, if not impossible, for a newsperson to distance themselves from (9/11 and Columbine, for example).
Not to mention the content, where they make fairly insignificant stories significant.
Ever wonder if the “Men In Black” movies were correct? Maybe we should be reading the tabloids instead of the “serious” newspapers….
“When you try to use rap in your comparisons Peter, you should be mindful of the fact that not every rap song involves someone degrading a woman or killing a cop or any other such foolishness. To make such a blanket generalization reveals a strong level of ignorance, and this is something that is typical of individuals in the news media as well.”
Don’t take this wrong, but…do you think I’m stupid? I mean, honestly. Do you think I’m unaware that rap songs cover everything from “U Can’t Touch This” to “Men in Black,” and that the majority of them are fairly harmless?
Honestly, I just don’t understand when, if I make a statement about something such as “rap songs say this” or “fans say that,” someone is always, ALWAYS jumping in to declare, “But you know, not ALL of (whatever) is that way, don’t you know that?” The answer to which of course is, Of course I know that because I’m Not Stupid. It’s incomprehensible to me. I mean, there’s only two options here: You think I’m that stupid, or you don’t think I’m that stupid. If it’s the former, then why are you even bothering with me, and if it’s the latter, then why are you saying it?
“A rapper (Snoop Dogg) also made an excellent point about the distinction of what is being spoken upon when a ‘bìŧçh’ or ‘ho’ is addressed in a song versus the situation with the Rutgers basketball team. “Rappers are not talking about collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We’re talking about ho’s that’s in the ‘hood that ain’t doing šhìŧ, that’s trying to get a n—a for his money. These are two separate things.””
Yeah, here’s the thing: Considering how routinely I hear and/or read about male teens, both white and black, referring to/addressing other girls as “ho’s,” I have to think that it’s a distinction that’s way too subtle for many fans of the genre. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you’ve just tossed out a nifty piece of double standard: On the one hand you hold me to exact literal reading of my words, and because I don’t toss in qualifiers such as “some,” you assume I’m talking about all rap songs…but on the other hand, you instantly accept Snoop Dogg’s assertion that people should be able to read between the lines and know that not ALL women are being considered ho’s and bìŧçhëš in rap songs…just the ones that deserve it.
Tell me that Snoop Dogg offers an apology to all women who were called ho’s and bìŧçhëš because of a mindset influenced by negativity in SOME (happy?) rap songs, and I might be impressed. But he didn’t. He simply put forward what he considers an obvious distinction, with the implication that if someone thinks otherwise, then they’re just getting it wrong. Imus, meantime, said one stupid thing and has since then apologized frequently and continously, and yet continues to be punished and receive no forgiveness. For all the difference it made, he could just as easily have said, “You know what? It was a joke. Jokes aren’t meant to be taken seriously, and if you’re taking it seriously, then you really need to lighten up.”
PAD
wow.
The thread started on the topic of what’s news, has spread to pot smoking vs. drinking and bounced along to Imus, which originally appeared in another thread.
someone here is typing under the influence!
😉
wow.
The thread started on the topic of what’s news, has spread to pot smoking vs. drinking and bounced along to Imus, which originally appeared in another thread.
someone here is typing under the influence!
😉
wow.
The thread started on the topic of what’s news, has spread to pot smoking vs. drinking and bounced along to Imus, which originally appeared in another thread.
someone here is typing under the influence!
😉
I have absolutely no interest in seeing “Grindhouse.” Perfectly content to wait until it shows up on one of the hundred or so movie channels I subscribe to.
Shame. I was looking forward to take on the storytelling structure of “Death Proof” and Zoe Bell’s debut performance.
. . . .
But back on topic, have you heard about the Pennsylvania DJ who just got fired? Basically, for a “Phrase That Pays” contest, he decided that the phrase would be “I’m a nappy-headed ‘ho.”
Not too swift that one is.
Back to the point of what constitutes news, I’m in total agreement with you PAD. I got bigger concerns than what some actor says or who’s the father of a celebrity’s child. I wish I knew how news outlets decide/find out this is what the majority is interested in. I got a family member going to Afganistan in the fall and a friend going trough a divorce, I could really care less about tabloid type news, yet yesterday I couldn’t change the channels fast enough without someone telling me who the fathered the child of someone I dont give a ^%$#@# about.
Who’s to blame? The news outlets, or the gossipy folks who live vicariously trough famous people? Take Dunst, I’m looking forward to her new movie and have enjoyed some of her work, but I don’t care what she does or says on her own time. I don’t understand the folks who believe that an entertainer is obliged not only to entertain on stage and screen, but also have to give up their privacy just so some can gossip. I really don’t understand why we have the right to invade their privacy.
thanksss
I’ve read a few days ago many comments in Newsarama about how horrible and annoying the new Supergirl character is
Oh, come on. The sixties Supergirl had an affair with her horse.
This would be the reason why the term “slow news day” was coined.
Yuri, Peter has already thoroughly responded to your comments directed at him. So I’m going to limit myself to your comments regarding Bill Mulligan.
To fairly interpret Mulligan’s words, you need to look at them in context. He was responding to the following post from our host (with the most — sorry, couldn’t resist):
“Here’s a silly question: Has anyone seen the picture of the girls in question? Are they, in fact, nappy-headed? I’m just curious. (And why do I have the song, “Guess who’s coming to dinner, Natty Dreadlocks” running through my head?)”
Mr. Mulligan responded thusly:
“i watched some of the press conferance they just had. The girls looked like perfectly normal athletic types. Some were quite well spoken and one surprized the hëll out of me when asked by a reporter if politicians should continue to go on the Imus show. Her reply was that a person running for president wants to make the biggest impact so of course they should go on the show that gets the most attention. Didn’t expect that.”
Bill was merely observing that he saw nothing out-of-the-ordinary about these girls, and certainly nothing that would justify Imus’ foul insult. And he did NOT express surprise some of them were well-spoken. He expressed surprise that one of girls who had been insulted wouldn’t hold it against a presidential candidate for appearing on Imus’ program. Had I been so insulted by Imus, I’m not sure I’d’ve been so level-headed. So I share Bill’s surprise in that regard.
I’m not sure when being called “articulate” or “well-spoken” became a back-handed compliment or thinly veiled insult. I recently gave a presentation at work, and later learned that someone in the audience subsequently described me as “articulate” and “well-spoken.” I took it as praise, pure and simple. When a white person cannot even compliment a black person without being suspected of bigotry, I submit to you that political correctness has clearly run amok.
By the way, Bill Mulligan has mentioned in this blog that one of his sisters is dating a black man (from Nigeria, I believe). Moreover, during the Islamic Revolution in Iran in the 1970s, Bill’s father and mother adopted two Iranian children to help them escape from danger. Surprised? Well, that’s what you get for pre-judging people.
Look, I am the first to admit: it’s harder to be black in this country than it is to be white. But that doesn’t justify responding to prejudice with prejudice.
Black people do not constitute a monolithic group. I get that. But neither do white people. Your post leads me to wonder if you get that. I’m willing to acknowledge there is much I don’t know, to listen to you, to try to understand you. Are you truly willing to do the same? Because ultimately the only way we’re going to be able to change society in a positive way is to work with one another, not against one another.
When you have Mr. Mulligan here making statements such as, “Some were quite well spoken and one surprized the hëll out of me,” I’m left scratching my head wondering what did you expect them to sound like? Thats as backhanded a compliment as ever. And I seriously doubt his intention was to be derogatory but its an offhand comment such as this that speaks to the social and cultural divide.
In my defense, I was responding to someone who asked if the ladies were in fact “nappy-headed”. I said (full quote) i watched some of the press conferance they just had. The girls looked like perfectly normal athletic types. Some were quite well spoken and one surprized the hëll out of me when asked by a reporter if politicians should continue to go on the Imus show. Her reply was that a person running for president wants to make the biggest impact so of course they should go on the show that gets the most attention. Didn’t expect that.
So to answer your question, I expected them to sound more like college athletes who, in my experience, are not the most articulate people around. It’s also clear from my entire quote that what “surprised” me was not that they could speak but that, when given the opportunity to take an easy shot at the politicians who appear on the Imus show, the team leader gave a reply that was unexpectedly fair. Cutting off my sentence where you did gave a very different spin on what I said. Was that intentional?
I’ve also been very impressed with the way the (now declared innocent) Duke lacrosse players have come across in their interviews. So maybe I need to revise my perception of athletes, black or white.
And finally…how did this end up in this thread?
Bill, it appears while I was speaking for you, you were sneakily writing a post in an attempt to speak for yourself. How many times do we have to go over this, Bill? How many times?
Sigh… just in case my lame joke above was unclear, I know dámņ well my good friend Bill can speak for himself. But I felt honor-bound to speak up out of friendship for Bill and, more important, out of a commitment to the truth.
By the way, Bill Mulligan has mentioned in this blog that one of his sisters is dating a black man (from Nigeria, I believe).
Actually it was my daughter, and they have broken up. But I understand you never go back so…
Thanks, Bill. Boy, the people who think we are the same person writing under different names must have red cheeks now, eh? Or we are a very fast typist.
Posted by: Bill Mulligan at April 12, 2007 11:31 AM
Actually it was my daughter, and they have broken up.
Uhm… oops. Sorry. Hope I didn’t bring up anything that I shouldn’t have…
“maybe I need to revise my perception of athletes, black or white.”
They prefer the term geekly challenged.
“Bill, it appears while I was speaking for you, you were sneakily writing a post in an attempt to speak for yourself.”
He’s actualy suprisingly articulate.
If she’s not doing it in Hawaii in a bikini with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz I’m not interested.
I remember teenager mini-skirted Arisia chasing Hal Jordan, and also the Ultron/Pym/Wasp/Jocasta thing. Comet the Super Horse was a bit before my time, but I’ve read about it.
It’s funny how many fans complaining of how today’s comics are so full of sexual innuendo and politics and real world issues are unaware that comics in the past have also been full of those things. Particularly politics. Marvel Comics in the 1970s sometimes seemed to be all politics, all the time.
But what I was really raving about was the double standard of how males and females are seen regarding sexual conduct. If a male character is a “skirt chaser” or a “ladies’ man”, the character is cool. Now, if a female character chases men, she is a horrible šlûŧ. This is doubly true when the character is question is a teenager. A male teen character can be depicted as horny and it’s the most natural thing in the world, but a female teen can’t be horny, or it’s a horrible personal failing on her part.
I always thought comic book fans were supposed to be more open-minded than the general public, and was a bit surprised by the vehemence in some of the comments in newsarama.
“But what I was really raving about was the double standard of how males and females are seen regarding sexual conduct.”
This is going to sound flip an stereotypical, But it’s to some degree because guys know guys.
Plus, some things haven’t changed that much. You still have older brothers being told that it’s “their job” to watch out for their younger sister in school. You still have Feminist groups that want things both ways. Plus, I honestly think that, no matter how much we want it to be otherwise, we’re all hardwired to react to situations like that differently thanks to years of societal re-enforcement of certain ideas.
Maybe that will change one day, but do we really want to get to the point where ANY underage child having an affair with an adult is socially acceptable?
“Thanks, Bill. Boy, the people who think we are the same person writing under different names must have red cheeks now, eh?”
I’m still not convinced. Two different laptops in a wireless hub zone, start typing one post on one, then do another on the other, and the fact the Bill M’s(not a bad name for a band, actually) are never seen together….
But then, it’d be a shame to have two such interesting personalities in one skull when I don’t even have a whole single one in mine.
Bill Mulligan and I were seen together in a restaurant in Watertown last year. My girlfriend, Jeannie, was there as well and can bear witness.
None of us were smoking pot with Kirsten Dunst at the time.
I’d like to do a non sequitur digression for just a second to tell PAD it was really nice to see Sachs & Violens again in his latest novel. 🙂
Posted by: R.J. Carter at April 12, 2007 03:07 PM
I’d like to do a non sequitur digression…
Like this thread hasn’t already gone off the rails? 😉
Bill Myers wrote: “Bill Mulligan and I were seen together in a restaurant in Watertown last year. My girlfriend, Jeannie, was there as well and can bear witness.”
Yes, but were you photographed together? That’s the important distinction. Unless we’re presented with photographic proof, how do we know the “meeting” wasn’t some elaborate trick?
But even then, we couldn’t be sure. Bill Milligan could very well have arranged to have one of his handy “Bill Myers” robots at the restauraunt that day. Did anyone bring along a powerful electromagnet to confirm “Bill Myers” was flesh and blood?
Or maybe “Bill Milligan” was the robot. Same question applies, either way.
For that matter, how do we know the various “people” who post in these threads aren’t really characters that PAD invented as part of an exercise to see if he could create a wide-ranging cast of characters to “talk” and “argue” about various topics? We know he’s a talented enough writer that he could pull something like that off.
And if he managed to pull it off for more than, what? Five years now?, that’d be a major accomplishment. Almost on par with successfully faking your death.
Which reminds me. Has PAD ever been photographed with either Andy Kaufman or Elvis?
Hmmmmnn. I wonder….
As to the main topic, I agree. A lot of “news” isn’t news. In fact, I recently cancelled my subscription to the local paper when the headline in their lead story spoke of bringing in a psychic in a missing person’s case.
While it has its flaws, my own little corner of the Fourth Estate at least tends not to offer up such “non stories” as depicted above as “news.” At least outside of the entertainment section. We did not, for example, jump on the “all O.J. all the time” bandwagon back during the O.J. trial. As I recall, there was a story when he was arrested and one when he was acquitted.
If I were running a news organization in which what happened in Hollywood had any relevance to our readers/viewers/listeners, I wouldn’t even mention the Dunst pot smoking matter unless she were arrested for it. And then I’d put in something like this:
“Hollywood actress Jane Doe was arrested recenly for possession of marijuna. She faces a court date on (date).”
or
“Hollywood actress Jane Doe was ordered to serve ____ days jail time/pay a $____ fine/perform community service in connection with a recent marijuna arrest.”
Beyond that, it’s not news.
Same with Ms. Smith. Again, unless my hypothetical news organization was based in A) Hollywood; B) her hometown or C) where she died, she’d get maybe this:
“Model dies under mysterious circumstances.
“Anna Nicole Smith, a model who initially gained fame when she married a wealthy octogenarian, has died under mysterious circumstances in the Bahamas. She was 39.
“Local police continue to investigate.”
The only way it would justify more copy would be if someone in my coverage area was directly involved:
“The investigation into the death of a model has turned to the tiny hamlet of Tippecanoeandtylertoo. Sheriff’s deputies have arrested a local man in connection with the incident.”
(and so on…)
Rick
Posted by: Rick Keating at April 12, 2007 03:54 PM
Bill Milligan…
No, I’m fairly sure I had lunch with Bill Mulligan. I’ve never met this “Bill Milligan” character.
Are you sure you haven’t been smoking pot with Kirsten Dunst, Rick?
“For that matter, how do we know the various “people” who post in these threads aren’t really characters that PAD invented as part of an exercise to see if he could create a wide-ranging cast of characters to “talk” and “argue” about various topics? We know he’s a talented enough writer that he could pull something like that off.”
Sounds like an idea for a Stephan King novel.
Has anybody written a book or a novel about bloggers?
A blogger investigates the death of one of the posters on his thread only to discover that the whole blog exists in his mind.
I call for an decision of the UN security council making it illegal to mention Anna Nicole Smith for the next 100 years.
Pot, prejudice, šlûŧŧÿ superheroines, evill Bill Myers (Mulligan?) robots, and we’re all inventions of PAD’s increasingly feverish imagination…HOLY SYNTAX ERROR IT”S THE MATRIX!!!!
Bill Myers:
Would you believe you have a rare eye disease which causes you to misread certain vowels?
No?
Would you believe that Mulligan and Milligan are analogues of each other in parallel universes? If you met the one with the goatee, that was the alternate universe Bill Milligan.
No?
Well, what other alternative could there be? I couldn’t possibly have made a typo. I mean my administration is incapable of error. We don’t-
Oh, sorry. For a moment there, I thought I was the President. Must be the fumes from the new carpeting they’re installing.
Maybe it was a typo after all.
Rick
For that matter, how do we know the various “people” who post in these threads aren’t really characters that PAD invented as part of an exercise to see if he could create a wide-ranging cast of characters to “talk” and “argue” about various topics? We know he’s a talented enough writer that he could pull something like that off.
Oh wouldn’t that be so cool?
Would you believe that Mulligan and Milligan are analogues of each other in parallel universes?
Maybe Bill MILLIGAN is my clever disguise name. As clever disguise names go it isn’t very clever or a terribly good disguise but it’s still way better than Obi Wan Kenobi going as “Old Ben” Kenobi. Which, I have to add actually worked!
The Dark Side of the Force isn’t very bright, I guess.
As clever disguise names go it isn’t very clever or a terribly good disguise but it’s still way better than Obi Wan Kenobi going as “Old Ben” Kenobi. Which, I have to add actually worked!
The Dark Side of the Force isn’t very bright, I guess.
I figure that he was just using the Jedi Mind Trick on everyone in a 5-mile radius until they lost the ability to move short-term memories into long-term storage. It would certainly help explain why no one noticed that he was still wearing Jedi robes…
“It would certainly help explain why no one noticed that he was still wearing Jedi robes…”
At the beginning of Star Wars it seems that the robes worn by Obi-Wan Kenobi were a robes of person living in tatooine. They are similar in style to the ones worn by Luke’s uncle. When the prequels came I somewhat expected the Jedi to have a different kind of costume, more appropriate to their high role in pre-Impirial society.
I don’t think Ben Kenobi was much of an attempt at hiding. Why would the few farmers in a distant part of a distant planet associate a crazy hermit named Ben with a Jedi named Obi-Wan they probably never heard of. Obi-Wan was hiding in plain site. The question is, why didn’t Darth Vader scour the galaxy looking for Obi-Wan? Was his mind ever turned toward the planet he came from? Had he come visiting, the first thing that would have caught his ear was that a young person with his family name was living in Tatooine, who was much more easily spotted than Ben Kenobi. In the alternative version of Revenge of the Sith that exists only in my mind (and computer), Darth Vader made a conscious choice to let Obi-Wan go and to avoid his past in Tatooine.
And now back to our regularly scheduled programing.
Bill Myers wrote: “Bill Mulligan and I were seen together in a restaurant in Watertown last year. My girlfriend, Jeannie, was there as well and can bear witness.”
Yes, but were you photographed together? That’s the important distinction. Unless we’re presented with photographic proof, how do we know the “meeting” wasn’t some elaborate trick?
Photoshop. 🙂
The question is, why didn’t Darth Vader scour the galaxy looking for Obi-Wan? Was his mind ever turned toward the planet he came from? Had he come visiting, the first thing that would have caught his ear was that a young person with his family name was living in Tatooine, who was much more easily spotted than Ben Kenobi.
A gentleman who writes online under the nom du pixel of Cheeseburger Brown (I think his real name is Frederick Heming) wrote a wonderful short novel, in the form of Darth Vader’s blog, starting just before the intercept of the Rebel ship above Tatooine in A New Hope, and finishing just before the throne-room scene in Return of the Jedi. In it, Vader notes that he doesn’t like going to Tatooine because the whole region of space is so awash in Force-twists and probability whorls, it makes it almost impossible for him to sense anything. (That’s also why he couldn’t seem to hit Luke’s ship at the Battle of Yavin – he was having trouble seeing past the ripples in the Force.)
If you haven’t read Memoirs of a Monster, I highly encourage it. It’s well-written, revealing of what the character of Anakin Skywalker should have been like, and funny as frak (especially the recurring pain in all the diodes down the left side of Vader’s armor).
Posted by Rene
I remember teenager mini-skirted Arisia chasing Hal Jordan, and also the Ultron/Pym/Wasp/Jocasta thing. Comet the Super Horse was a bit before my time, but I’ve read about it.
Somehow i wiped out some of my post –
Arisia got made physically older by her Power Ring, but was still the saem actual age…
Remember Amethyst? twelve-year old on Earth, Sexy twenty-something in a miniskirt on Gemworld, in a political situation in which either rape, dynastic marriage or Just Plain Fooling Around was fairy probable?
Or the stepmother/stepson pair who became the physical vector for Dr Fate, in which the stepmother apparently had Designs on him (and he got Made Older, too, as i recall…)
Or possibly the creepiest romantic liaison of all (given how it was portrayed) Terra and Slade…
“At the beginning of Star Wars it seems that the robes worn by Obi-Wan Kenobi were a robes of person living in tatooine. They are similar in style to the ones worn by Luke’s uncle. When the prequels came I somewhat expected the Jedi to have a different kind of costume, more appropriate to their high role in pre-Impirial society.”
Actually, me and my friends believed for two decades the outfit Luke was wearing in Return was the real Jedi attire. After the prequels we finally knows that Luke was a pervy goth who wore black leather even in the desert and the jungle…
Thanks Jonathan. I’ll take a look.
“A gentleman who writes online under the nom du pixel of Cheeseburger Brown (I think his real name is Frederick Heming) wrote a wonderful short novel, in the form of Darth Vader’s blog, starting just before the intercept of the Rebel ship above Tatooine in A New Hope, and finishing just before the throne-room scene in Return of the Jedi. In it, Vader notes that he doesn’t like going to Tatooine because the whole region of space is so awash in Force-twists and probability whorls, it makes it almost impossible for him to sense anything. (That’s also why he couldn’t seem to hit Luke’s ship at the Battle of Yavin – he was having trouble seeing past the ripples in the Force.)”
I personaly prefer a psychological explanation. But then, my alternative version of the prequels has had only one and a half readers (me and my sister), so what do I know.
“Actually, me and my friends believed for two decades the outfit Luke was wearing in Return was the real Jedi attire. After the prequels we finally knows that Luke was a pervy goth who wore black leather even in the desert and the jungle…”
It’s a valid life style choice.
It was a reasonable assumption that when Like became a Jedi in Return, he assumed the costume of a Jedi. I had similar thoughts. So in my alternative version some Jedi ware cloaks like the one Like wore in Return. Others, a costume like Obi-Wan’s, and others a more clean cut version of the same costume in white or blue. This is a good way to display philosophical and cultural differences among the Jedi. O well. At least I can tell the difference between what’s inside my mind and thee real world, most of the time.
I kind of remember a story on the old comic book series about a young Obi Wan dressed in sleek black much like Luke’s in Return. But If that comic book was valid SW info, we would have had a giant green rabbit instead of JarJar… wich would have been an improve.
and as for valid lifestyle choice…I agree but only if you bathe in dehodorant every morning. Else, its highly offensive to others. Maybe bad odor is a jedi power too.
Unless Jedi dont sweat.
Posted by: El hombre Malo at April 13, 2007 07:37 AM
“and as for valid lifestyle choice…I agree but only if you bathe in dehodorant every morning. Else, its highly offensive to others. Maybe bad odor is a jedi power too.
Unless Jedi dont sweat.”
Why do you think all the henchmen in Jabba’s palace were suffocating when Luke came in?
I vaguely remember seeing Lucas give a comment after Phantom Mistake came saying that they had tried a variety of costumes for the Jedi order and simply decided that the brown robes were what looked best. Of course, heavy brown robes aren’t any more practical in a combat situation that tight leathers, but whatever.
But let’s face it, Obi-Wan’s scheme to hide Luke was hardly brilliant: He hid the baby with Little Orphan Annie Skywalker’s stepbrother on LOAS’s homeworld using the Skywalker name. Then, he proceeded to spend nearly 20 years watching over the kid incognito. His brilliant new identity just involved changing his first name.
Hëll, at least Bal Organa had the sense not to raise the girl as Leia Skywalker.
“Why do you think all the henchmen in Jabba’s palace were suffocating when Luke came in?”
Right…Jedis raise their arms and make a gripping motion when they suffocate foes, but its all a clever deceiving gesture, since all they need to do its raise the arm.
Is this retro-continuity or what?
Now we’re on Star Wars?
yeah, people around here are hitting various types of bongs. ;):P:O
Now we’re on Star Wars?
yeah, people around here are hitting various types of bongs. ;):P:O
Now we’re on Star Wars?
yeah, people around here are hitting various types of bongs. ;):P:O
“Unless Jedi dont sweat.”
Well, think about it. Both the Skywalkers come from a desert planet(not to be confused with a dessert planet) and neither seemed to be in any discomfort. Qui-Gonn fought in the desert, not a bead of sweat anywhere. It’s all some weird perversion of the Jedi mind trick.
Woulda made a great deodorant campaign, though. “Arid Extra Dry–from the scorching pits of Tatooine to your pits.”
“Woulda made a great deodorant campaign, though. “Arid Extra Dry–from the scorching pits of Tatooine to your pits.””
Qui-Gon for Men by l’Oreal
—————
“I vaguely remember seeing Lucas give a comment after Phantom Mistake came saying that they had tried a variety of costumes for the Jedi order and simply decided that the brown robes were what looked best. Of course, heavy brown robes aren’t any more practical in a combat situation that tight leathers, but whatever.”
It seemed to have worked fine after all. There were many things I didn’t like about the prequels (list attached), but the Jedi costumes was the least of them.
“But let’s face it, Obi-Wan’s scheme to hide Luke was hardly brilliant: He hid the baby with Little Orphan Annie Skywalker’s stepbrother on LOAS’s homeworld using the Skywalker name. Then, he proceeded to spend nearly 20 years watching over the kid incognito. His brilliant new identity just involved changing his first name.”
Unless you assume that he wasn’t actually trying to hide them, but was pretty sure Vader wouldn’t be looking.
In my aformentioned alternative version (I know, it’s silly, but I needed a way to cope with the disappointment with the prequels, and watching the movies while thinking of my own alternative versions is my way; I think Bush does the same thing while watching the news) I tried to address this issue. First, by using Ben as a familar nick name for Obi Wan by Anakin: it’s not a pseudonym, but just a nickname. Secondly, instead of having Amidala die at childbirth, she goes to Anakin/Vader (already in full armor), and tells him that the children are dead, which sends him one step deeper into the dark side and also gives him the motivation to leave any aspect of his past behind. Thirdly, I had one or two references of Obi-Wan having to learn to temper his impatience by spending years waiting for Luke to grow up. It is more satisfying for me to watch these movies because of those little private rewrites. Why accept the movies as they are?
I like the idea of the “force ripples” or whatever. Given that not only Obi-wan but also Qui-Gon, The Friendly Ghost were on the planet, there should have been enough Mitachlorian Power to keep the boy hidden.
yeah, people around here are hitting various types of bongs. ;):P:O
Nope, we’re doing all this cold sober…which is actually a lot sadder, now that I think of it…
>do we really want to get to the point where ANY underage child having an affair with an adult is socially acceptable?
Not really. But define “underage child”. Differs – legally – from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and from country to country. Heck, even differs within countries, depending on when you look. Used to be perfectly acceptable for people to get married at 14 in colonial times. Now? Forget it. A hundred years from now? I’m not placing any bets.
As for Arisia, OK, I had a fondness for the character so I’m biased. But consider this: she was deemed old/mature enough to be entrusted with one of the most powerful weapon/device in the known universe. Next to that what’s a roll in the hay with an older man?
Posted by The StarWolf
As for Arisia, OK, I had a fondness for the character so I’m biased. But consider this: she was deemed old/mature enough to be entrusted with one of the most powerful weapon/device in the known universe. Next to that what’s a roll in the hay with an older man?
“Last month I was a typical fourteen-year-old – now I’m fighting the greatest menace the Galaxy has ever known,” or words to that effect.